Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Alternative Hanoi Bucket List // 20 Things to do After all Those Temples and Museums

People seem to think that Hanoi is one of the
more boring cities of Vietnam.

The main tourist attractions in Hanoi are the Water Puppet Theatre, Hoan Kiem Lake, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Temple of Literature, Ngoc Son Temple, Tran Quoc Pagoda, The Women's Museum, the Museum of Ethnology, the Fine Arts Museum. None of these things really take that long, and lets face it, temples and museums (as beautiful as they are) can get boring really quickly.

Tourists come for a week and 'run out of things to do'. Friends of mine said
"We planned to stay for a week but we've kinda done everything so I think
we might head down to Hoi An early".

Expats say that they have nothing to do in their free time.

Well, whether you're on your own, in a group, rich, or poor, I hope that I have
some alternative ideas for you to try out next time you're stuck with nothing
to do!

Similarly, at
Thanh Loi Driving Range, you can pay VND100,000 for unlimited balls for an
hour.

Alternatively,
if you actually wanted to play golf, there is a course out at Long Bien right near Aeon Mall. It's about a 25 minute drive from Truc Bach Lake. The 27
hole course is open every day, and each game comes with a free set lunch and
drink.

The tallest
tower in Hanoi, and all of Vietnam, the Landmark 72 Tower (also known as the
Keagnam Tower) has a lounge up the top with amazing views of Hanoi from 72
floors up.

The second
tallest tower in Hanoi is the Lotte Tower on the corner of Lieu Giai and Dao
Tan street. The lounge offers a 360 degree view of Hanoi and is open in both
day and night time. The lounge its self is free to enter, and if you are
wanting to explore the observation deck, it will cost only VND130,000 (night
time).

Playing
Pool

Who doesn't
love a good pool sesh? Even if you're not great at it, it's still fun to gather
a bunch of friends and relax by a pool table. There's a bunch of places to play
pool all around Hanoi, near any game places, in some parks, in bars, just ask
around for one near you.

The places
are usually air conditioned, so it's perfect for a summers day or evening
activity. The area usually runs from VND50,000-VND120,000 per hour.

While we're
talking aboutpool, why
not spend a hot day by the poolside with a view of the lake. Thanh Loi pool offers day passes for VND80,000, along with a quiet peaceful
atmosphere and a great view of the lake at sunset!

Xom Tau
Cafe

One of the
coolest cafe's I've found so far is the Xom Tau cafe that's located on the
train tracks that connects Vietnam's major cities. These train tracks are home to
many, and hide some well kept secrets, one of them being this very cafe where you sit and drink just a meter or two from the train as it roars by. Oh did I mention, the drinks are cheap as all get out! Find it along the tracks at Kham Thien
street. Park your bike at the end (or get the taxi to drop you there), walk
along the tracks, and you won't miss it!

Take a Walk Before 6am

It's a simply
magical time of the day, with so much energy and peaceful commotion. If you
can, pop by a well known market or lake, and enjoy watching people set up,
exercise, and start their daily routine at this magical time.

Go to a Park at Peak Hour

Similarly to
walking around early in the morning, it's equally, but in a different way,
magical to take a stroll in a park in the early evening between 4:30pm and 8pm.
It's simply magical to be immersed in this culture and honestly inspiring to be
around so many people of all ages, stories, statuses, and more. The energy here
is insane.

Here's a photo that I took at my local park. I just had to include it!

Learn Vietnamese

Physiological
studies show that learning another language can have significant positive
affects on your brains cognitive functions. Not to mention the mental benefits
of learning something new, and using your brain in different ways.

Whether you
are planning to be here for six months, one year, or ten, I think it's so
important to make an effort to learn at least a conversational level of the
language. There's so many ways to go about it these days. You can spend money
on lessons, do language exchange meet ups with Vietnamese locals, or even learn
from YouTube.

Tieng Viet Oi offers both in class, and online videos to help you to learn Vietnamese.
In my opinion, they are the best in Hanoi for learning the northern
accent.

There's no
excuse these days to learn a bit of Vietnamese. It may be difficult, but so is
any language. Vietnamese people make such an effort to speak English, lets give
our brains some exercise and return the favor.

Ice
Skating

For
VND150,000 an hour you can grab yourself a pair of skates, and ice skate long
Royal Cities 3000m@ ice rink. Located on Nguyen Trai street, its giant white
structure is impossible to miss. But just incase you do, here it is on the map.

Rock ClimbingVietClimb has amazing rock climbing walls right in Tay Ho! Starting from 70k, you can go and have a fun and challenging time on these walls. For more info, check out the website or facebook page

Paintball

Galaxy Hunter Paintball Club is a great option for anyone who doesn't have many
concerns for safety, but prioritizes fun. Located at 310 Nguyen Van Cu street
in Long Bien, guests can hire bullets and gloves in packages for various
prices. Check out the website for more details.

Fishing

Sunny day and
you're not sure what to do? Why not take a short trip out of the cities centre
by motorbike. Many of the lakes just outside of the city offer fishing rod and
bate hire. Grab some snacks and drinks, and have a relaxing time in the fresh
air by one of the many lakes that this city and its outer suburbs has to offer.

Explore
the Lanes

I know, I
know. How is this something to do?! I always think that 'exploring the lanes'
is a boring thing to do, but every time that I get lost and end up down random
lanes, I am surprised and amazed by the energy of the places. Last time this
happened, I found what is now one of my favorite bars down in Dong Da, and it's
walking distance from my house! There's definitely great things to find in the
little lanes.

Borrow a
Camera for a Day

Something
different to do, challenge yourself to become a photographer for a day. This website lets you borrow camera for amounts of time for all different
prices. Although if you don't know any Vietnamese, you may need to get someone to help you to navigate the site! Go and have fun, see what things you can see when you have a nice
camera in your hand.

Try a Food
You've Never Tried Before

Mam Tom, Egg
Coffee, Trung Vit Lon, etc. Try something new. Make an experience about it. If
you write or run a blog like me, it could make for good writing material!

Check out
an Art Gallery

There's a lot
of art galleries in Hanoi, all of which are easily googleable, but one that I
will talk about is L'Espace (only because I have actually been here). At the
moment, they are running an exhibition called Gesture of Memories by Florian
Nguyen, a French-Vietnamese artist. The free-to-view exhibition will be running
until June 4th, so hurry! I wrote about it for Word magazine, check that out here.

Art Sessions

Hanoi is a very artsy city. If you're into it, there's a few art
lessons/sessions around.

Or, check out Tipsy Art on Facebook. For step-by-step instructions on
paintings, you can come learn and create. Nothing is needed, all supplies are
provided, just 2-3 hours of your time, and good energy!

Art
lessons are 400k each, and are located in the Old Quarter. Check out the page
for more details!

Another
artsy-group that's going on is the Live Poets Society. They meet
every week on Thursdays at around 12pm at Clickspace. Using prompts and
bouncing off each others ideas, the group creates poetry together that is both
therapeutic to the soul and sometimes post worthy!

Grab a drink or have a picnic by the lake

Wherever you are in Hanoi, there's a lake or a park near you. Grab some friends, some drinks and snacks, some music, and you're set for the day! If you just have a little time to spare, there's plenty of places around West Lake and others for you to stop and get a Tra Da while you take in the scenery.

The Water Park

The days are getting longer and hotter! When you find that you have a spare day, head on over to the water park. It's VND120,000 for the day, and includes water slides, a ferris wheel, a lazy river, tightropes, a wave pool, a roller coaster or two, and more!

Improv Comedy ClassesThe Rotten Grapes is now doing improv comedy classes on Mondays and Saturdays from June 2017. You can learn more about it here and watch some videos on their Facebook page.

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There you have it! 20 things that you can do in Hanoi that aren't all typical things to do! Let me know, have I left any good ones out?! Comment below if I have and I will happily add them to the list!Check out my last post → Getting Waxed in Hanoi

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About Me

My name is Millie and I came to Hanoi in 2015, fell in love with the country, and fell in love with the man of my dreams not long after. I am currently residing in Hanoi and between writing for a magazine, blogging, and teaching English, I like to go for coffee with friends, and attempt to do art. Welcome to my blog ❤